Colour matching system

Abstract

A system for, and method of, color matching and/or identifying color parameters of articles such as teeth, textiles, paints, dyes, car body repairs, picture restoration, metals and gems and for use in the cosmetics industry. The system comprises means for taking a colored image of an object, means for relaying the colored image to a place remote from where the image of the object was taken, means for analysing color values of the image and means for converting the color values into parameters from which the original color of the object can be reconstituted or color parameters may be cross-referenced and/or recorded over time.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a system for, and method of, colour matching, for particular, but not exclusive, use in the colour matching of articles such as teeth, textiles, paints, dyes, car body repairs, picture restoration and in the cosmetics industry. In addition, the present invention relates to a system for, and method of, colour identification, for particular, but not exclusive, use in the colour identification of the colours of precious metals, gems and stones and for use in the printing and security industries.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002] It is known from the prior art to colour match a variety of objects simply by eye and to compare the colour with a reference colour guide. The colour guide is usually held in proximity to the test object for a direct comparison. This is a purely subjective evaluation and can lead to a colour mismatch since one person's assessment may differ from another's. Moreover, the perception of colour is dependent on a number of fact...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

0061] The method of the present invention is of particular advantage in that, in use, it offers a non-invasive, internal contact-free procedure for obtaining dental information from a patient.

0062] By eliminating

Problems solved by technology

This is a purely subjective evaluation and can lead to a colour mismatch since one person's assessment may differ from another's.

Alternatively, a smooth shiny object can reflect light from its surface leading to bright spots similar colour distortions.

However, it is difficult to critically assess highly reflective surfaces such as the enamel of teeth.

This can be problematic because tooth colour is affected not only by ambient light colour/intensity in the surgery i.e. fluorescent or natural light, but also by the surrounding colour of the patient's own clothing or make-up/complexion.

It will be appreciated this process often results in unacceptable levels of colour mismatching so that a second or replacement dental prosthesis needs to be constructed at a substantial cost and inconvenience to the patient, dental professional and dental prosthesis manufacturer.

The problem with this method is that it does not completely eliminate variations in ambient lighting conditions.

The problem with this method is that the equipment can be bulky and that the colour in the photograph may be distorted and/or misrepresented through the process of developing and producing the photograph.

In addition, the flash from the camera causes high levels of r

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